mr. booker: please, would the senate please dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. boomer: thank you very much. i rise to speak on an amendment i filed on the appropriations bill that this chamber is now considering. the amendment is cosponsored by senators rockefeller, feinstein, menendez, schumer, blumenthal, gillibrand, markey, warren and brown. i also ask unanimous consent to add as cosponsors, senator durbin, senator boxer, senator hirono, senator murphy and senator schatzment. the presiding officer: without schatz -- senator schatz. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. boomer: ow amendment woulerd enhance rules that reduce driver fatigue. this bill rolls back enforcement of these rules, rules that are based on years of scientific evidence. it's doing so without further study. it's rolling back these safety rules without public input. it's rolling back these safety rules without even a hearing. at a time when truck crashes are actually on a rise in the united states of america, it is paramount that congress

mr. booker connects with his friends at the senior center to enjoy a nutritious hot meal. which gives him the energy he needs to connect with his bowling league and maybe pass along a few pointers. when older pennsylvanians make the most of programs supported by the pennsylvania lottery, like hot meal programs, we all benefit. learn more at palottery.com. the pennsylvania lottery benefits older pennsylvanians every day. >>> this is "world news." tonight, critical condition, comedy star tracy morgan seriously injured in a deadly highway accident that may have been caused by a dozing truck driver. the accident coming just hours after a performance that earned him a standing ovation. >>> armed to kill. the shoot-out on the courthouse steps, a gunman prepares for deadly takeover, stopped by deputies saving countless lives. >>> the abc news exclusive. diane sawyer with tough questions for hillary clinton, concerns about the fall, her concussion, and the after math. >> so no lingering affects? >> tonight, what she told diane. >>> the great escape, the 89-year-old veteran so dete

mr. booker connects with his friends at the senior center to enjoy a nutritious hot meal.ch gives him the energy he needs to connect with his bowling league and maybe pass along a few pointers. when older pennsylvanians make the most of programs supported by the pennsylvania lottery, like hot meal programs, we all benefit. learn more at palottery.com. the pennsylvania lottery benefits older pennsylvanians every day. >> take a look at this nasa satellite image. sciences say the lighter color you're seeing there is photo plank ton. it's in bloom. it's a brief mike soppic organism stretching hundreds of mile. it provides food for a wide range of sea creatures, including what else, shrimp and jelly fish. this spectacle form in the atlantic ocean off the coast of iceland. it is actually quite pretty. >> reporter: these mammals will be feasting. >> they'll be fat little guys out there. >> reporter: let's look around our neck of the woods, it's not too terribly bad, but with that said, it's not as pretty as you would like to see. the last several weekends have been gorgeous, toda

mr. booker: may i request the quorum call be dispensed with. i rise today to express my disappointment, that earlier today this chamber could not even proceed to the consideration of the bank on students emergency loan refinancing act. this would have allowed those with outstanding student loan debt to refinance at the current interest rate currently offered to new borrowers. this is deeply disappointing to me and it should be to the american public that we could not even get on to the bill to discuss, to debate it. and this is why it is particularly disappointing. our nation's young people and their families are burdened with extraordinary debt, $1.2 trillion of student loan debt. this exceeds the aggregate, the total auto loan, credit card and home equity debt balances in america, making student loans the second-largest debt of the u.s. households following mortgages. today the average student graduates from college with around $29,000 in loans. in new jersey, that sum is up from the average of 27,000 in 2011 to 23,792 in 2010. more than 16%

mr. chairman with senators brown and booker i'm interested in introducing christopher's law. a bill that will require student loan providers to clearly communicate to borrowers and cosigners what their obligations will be in the incidents of death. the bill can save families years of potential hardship. i plan to introduce separate legislations. in the situation where the lender ultimating forgave his student loan death after six years. his parents were hit with a large tax bill on what is deemed to be income. second it's something unfortunate happen to the cosigners of student loan debt, disability or bankruptcy, some borrowers gone into default. i look forward to discussing this issue with you further today director cordray and look forward to being able to make a change so that death and disability isn't a continuing challenge to families. >> mr. chairman i want to say briefly i will not be able to stay until the time when i will be up to ask questions. i'm concerned about a process that is under way by which the cfpb is collecting a vast amount of information about credit

mr. chairman with senators brown and booker i'm interested in introducing christopher's ball.bill that will require student loan providers to clearly communicate to borrowers and cosigners what their obligations will be in the incidents of death. the bill can save families years of potential hardship. i plan to introduce separate legislations. in the situation where the lender ultimating forgave his student loan death after six years. his parents were hit with a large tax bill on what is deemed to be income. second it's something unfortunate happen to the cosigners of student loan debt, disability or bankruptcy, some borrowers gone into default. i look forward to discussing this issue with you further today director cordray and look forward to being able to make a change so that death and disability isn't a continuing challenge to families. >> mr. chairman i want to say briefly i will not be able to stay until the time when i will be up to ask questions. i'm concerned about a process that is under way by which the cfpb is collecting a vast amount of information about credit ca

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator sessions and for a final statement senator booker of new jersey. >> i appreciatethis opportunity and i want to thank ranking member sessions and chairman whitehouse. want to particularly thank you are having the right kind of panel assembled here which are republican appointed presidentially appointed epa leaders including my former governor who i'm proud and happy to see today. i hope you got myself a message last night that i'm extraordinarily pleased because it says clearly that this is not a left-right issue. this is not an issue of politics. this is an issue of facts and to have republican presidentially appointed epa heads come out as they did in their joint editorial and say clearly we have a problem and what frustrates me to no end is that this is nothing new. when people tell the truth of environmental problems that we have the capacity to do something about and to hear the same story over and over again. i would like to chairman whitehouse put this into the record. it's a wonderful article going back and tracing through what everyone used to say about wh

mr. bothuell, also when i first interviewed him it took such a crazy turn, because the child was found alive in his basement, during the interview. but he said this to our bookers right before he went on the air. he said the day little charlie went missing that he had gotten a text or e-mail from the stepmother, monique, saying that charlie had not done his chores. what he explained that was, was charlie had not done his exercise regimen. they apparently have the 12-year-old boy on some kind of a strict exercise regimen. and there have been reports that the child was doing 4,000 steps a day on an elliptical and that the text -- the step mom sent was a picture of the elliptical. and the father said when he went home when charlie was missing, he was going to have to deal with that. is that child abuse? i don't know. that will be up to a judge and jury if bothuell is ever even charged with child abuse. right now, neither of them are charged with abusing charlie. i find that very difficult to believe, that charlie was not getting help from an adult, and, you know, two and two equals four. it looks like the stepmother was helping him. still, the specter of child abu

booker. our public alert systems are crucial to making sure that the of anyis notified oncoming danger. in my state, it is very because of tornadoes. we actually have a lot of minnesota.chdowns in mr. schulzrinne -- how do you again? >> schulzrinne. >> it's almost as good as my name. will public alert systems operate in an i.p. enabled world? so, public alert systems, currently we have essentially a system between a traditional system and emergency that uses radio and television largely, the wireless limited to short messages and a backbone system that is behind the scenes that distributes messages both. i believe, as we move to a mostly i.p. environment, that components will continue to be fulfilling a vital role but we can supplement those. in particular, the limitations that we have for the wireless emergency alert system, short messages, may no longer be necessary in all i.p. environments and importantly we can now leverage new ideas on to distribute alerts. for example, since many people watch tv or listen to continuously, we have the opportunity to inject alerts internet content, be it video streaming or maybe through that might networks be placing -- people might be viewing

mr. booker. if he were voting, he would vote aye. i would vote nay. i therefore withhold my vote. vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, on this confirmation, the vote is 48 ayes, 46 nays. the nomination is confirmed. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the asinine undersigned, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of mark g.mastroianni of massachusetts to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: there are now two minutes of debate equally divided prior to the vote. who yields time? is there objection? without objection, all time is yielded back. by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of mark g. mastroianni of massachusetts to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts shall be brought to a clos